Winnipeggers Honor Indigenous Culture and Resilience on Ribbon Skirt Day

Winnipeggers observed National Ribbon Skirt Day with gatherings, round dances, and community support on Sunday. The event took place at Winnipeg’s CF Polo Park to celebrate Indigenous culture, resilience, and identity.

Jan. 4 was recognized as National Ribbon Skirt Day in 2023 by the federal government. This recognition followed an incident involving Isabella Kulak from Cote First Nation, who was shamed by a staff member for wearing her ribbon skirt on formal wear day at her elementary school in Saskatchewan. Her family reported that a staff member told her the outfit wasn’t formal enough.

The school division apologized, but Isabella’s story sparked an online movement where Indigenous women shared photos of themselves in ribbon skirts to express pride in their identity.

Hilda Anderson-Pyrz, the organizer of the National Ribbon Skirt Day celebration, emphasized the importance of community support. “It’s really powerful to see our community and our allies gather together in the same space to celebrate the culture and the richness of Indigenous community,” she said.

Some attendees viewed the event as a way to participate in the decolonization of public spaces. Mindy Mckenzie, who attended with her mother and daughter, stated, “It is like normalizing our culture in spaces you would not necessarily expect them to be.” She noted that seeing people in ribbon skirts at Polo Park is uncommon.

Mckenzie expressed that the celebration allows her to reclaim her identity as an Indigenous woman, something that was not possible for her grandmother and mother.

Amber Laplante, a local ribbon skirt maker, highlighted the historical significance of ribbon skirts for Indigenous communities. “Ribbon skirts have so much meaning for people who make them,” she said. “It supports our households, it pays our rent, it keeps money within our community.”

Mitchell Saunders shared that wearing a ribbon skirt helped them accept their two-spirit identity. “When I first wore it, it felt right, it felt amazing, it felt me,” they said.